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Modern-Day Bullfighting

Credit Alex Quesada

Modern-Day Bullfighting

By Andrew BorygaApr. 5, 2016Apr. 5, 2016

Bullfighting was something Alex Quesada watched on television when he was growing up in Spain. Not because it was interesting. But because as a young man, it’s what you do. “The big corridas are just like the Super Bowl,” he said.

On a visit to his home country five years ago, Mr. Quesada met Toñete, the 13-year-old son of a family friend. Mr. Quesada was struck by the boy’s infatuation with bullfighting — he was already training to become a matador. Mr. Quesada wrote off Toñete’s interest as a passing fancy, however. After all, his mother is a minor celebrity in Spain, and his father is a wealthy hotel developer.

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A matador on his way in the historic bullring of Salamanca, Spain.Credit Alex Quesada

“Why would a kid with all the education, all the possibilities for a career choice, and all the support he could want, choose to become a bullfighter in Spain today?” Mr. Quesada asked.

Last year, Mr. Quesada paid another visit to Toñete and learned that not only had the teenager stuck with bullfighting, but he had also performed regularly before large audiences at events across Spain. Mr. Quesada seized the opportunity. “Young Matador,” is the result, and it offers a rare look into the 21st century evolution of what Mr. Quesada calls “a medieval blood sport.”

Indeed, documenting bullfighting with its modern contradictions is what Mr. Quesada wanted to accomplish. Recently, the European Parliament voted to curb funding for bullfighting after years of activism from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and other organizations.

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Toñete and the other young bullfighters getting their capes adjusted before entering the arena. Navas de San Juan, Jaén Province, Spain.Credit Alex Quesada

For a tradition rooted in machismo and bravado, bullfighting now includes people like Toñete, who incessantly fiddles with his iPhone and frequently communicates on social media. To highlight the dissonance between tradition and modernity, Mr. Quesada used black-and-white in some photos to throw off the viewer’s sense of time.

In one image, Toñete, shirtless and poised, practices in a field. His body is taut, and his stance almost poetic. Were it not for the fresh sneakers on his feet, it would seem as if the photo was from another era. “That picture could have been shot 100 years ago,” Mr. Quesada said.

Toñete had only four bullfights during the two-week stretch in which Mr. Quesada followed him, so many photos showcase the behind-the-scenes life of an up-and-comer in modern-day Spain: Toñete getting changed into his traditional matador garb in hotel rooms; perfecting his moves with live cows at local breeding ranches. (Breeders look on to identify vacas bravas, or cows with fighting spirit, that are later bred to produce fighting bulls.)

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Toñete and his crew taking the celebratory walk around the arena and greeting well-wishers at the end of his corrida. Higuera de las Dueñas, Ãvila Province, Spain.Credit Alex Quesada

Although Mr. Quesada admits he found Toñete to be spoiled at times, he was impressed with the level of concentration Toñete applied to his practice, and the transformation he made before bullfights.

“He gets very serious, very solemn, very quiet,” Mr. Quesada said. “Which is probably something you have to do if you’re going to be in front of a charging bull.”

In one of Toñete’s biggest encounters, Mr. Quesada estimated that 15,000 people were in attendance. What he recalled most was the kill. Traditionally, the kill comes after the bull has been weakened, and dizzied through fancy cape work. The most experienced matadors then deliver the coup de grâce with one plunge of the sword. But Toñete still has much to learn.

“He stuck the sword in five times,” he said. “It was a mess.”

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Toñete waiting for the rain to pass so he could continue training. Salamanca Province, Spain.Credit Alex Quesada

Although Mr. Quesada renders many of Toñete’s moves, poses and cape work with grace, he says it was hard to find any beauty in the fatal blow.